RESEARCH NEWS

How Overeating Can Impair Brain Insulin Function

A research team has found that overeating reduces the ability of brain insulin to suppress the breakdown of fat in adipose tissue, leading to obesity and diabetes.

Dr Christoph Buettner from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, USA, explains: “We are interested in understanding why people who eat too much eventually develop diabetes. Our recent studies suggest that once you overeat, your brain develops insulin resistance. Since brain insulin controls lipolysis in adipose tissue by reducing sympathetic nervous system outflow to adipose tissue, brain insulin resistance causes increased spillage of fatty acids from adipose tissue into the blood stream.”

Dr. Buettner adds: “It’s a vicious cycle and, while we knew that this can begin with overeating, this study shows that it is really the brain that is harmed first which then starts the downward spiral.” To view full article visit http://spxj.nl/Ug24ng

Exercising May Help Curb Eating

Studies of neural pathways amongst women, suggests moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning can reduce the desire to eat.

Researchers from the Brigham Young University in Utah, America, measured the neural activity of 35 women (18 normal weight women and 17 clinically obese) while they viewed images of food, (a) after a morning of exercise and (b) after a morning without.

A BYU student wears an EEG recording device to

demonstrate how researchers measured neural responses

to food after exercise. (Credit: Image courtesy of Brigham Young University)

They found a 45-minute exercise bout not only produced lower brain responses to the food images, but also resulted in an increase in total physical activity that day, regardless of body mass index.

Researchers also reported the women in the study did not eat more food on the exercise day to ‘make up’ for the extra calories they burned in exercise. In fact, they ate approximately the same amount of food on the non-exercise day. To view full article visit http://spxj.nl/RQRiB4

Working Your Body To Stimulate Your Brain

According to a study conducted by the University of Edinburgh; regular exercise into, and during, old age may offer better protection against brain shrinkage than engaging in mental or social activity.

Researchers looked at the lifestyles of 638 people from Scotland born in 1936. All participants were given MRI scans at 73 years old.

The group gave details about their exercise habits, ranging from moving only for necessary household chores to keeping fit with heavy exercise, or participating in competitive sports several times per week. They also reported their participation in social and mentally stimulating activities.

The study found that after three years, people who participated in more physical activity experienced less brain shrinkage than those who exercised minimally regardless of their mental and social activity. To view full article visit http://spxj.nl/UvfAOb

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The REPS Journal 2013;26(January):10-11